Rustic Turkey Sausage and Kale Soup

My rustic turkey sausage and kale soup is a hearty and healthy soup full of savory flavors and is the perfect way to warm up your soul on those frigid winter days.

My days “off” are few and far between. And I say “off” with quotations because they are not days “off” at all.

Every day off I lay in bed in the am and envision myself getting dressed and entering the munchkin’s nursery all wide eyed and bushy tailed. Then frolicking happily downstairs with her to the kitchen as I prepare a bountiful breakfast full of fabulous morning treats. And of course this has to be followed by a food photography session in the glorious morning sunlight. For the remainder of the day, my perfect munchkin quietly plays on her own and while she naps for 3 hours I cook up a magnificent lunch, while taking in the cool breeze from my kitchen window, on this perfectly, crisp winter day. Upon my hubby’s entrance home I surprise him with a with a kiss in a sassy little outfit and all his favorite dishes to warm him up. Yes. One can always dream.

The truth is my days off NEVER look like this. They involve a wake-up call from my munchkin at 7am, which on a day “off” feels like a swift kick in the derrier. Followed by a double cappuccino made by my beloved Nespresso, which completes my breakfast and sometimes all my meals for the entire day. (At least I will be skinny). And the rest is a blur. Definitely, no table full of breakfast treats or 3 hour naps. Several hours, I consider the day a success if I have managed to change out of my oatmeal stained robe and to pick-up the dry cleaning.

On my most recent day off, I vowed to come as close to my dream day off as possible… and then I woke up to an extremely gloomy and depressingly frigid winter day. Nonetheless, I still managed to get dressed and cook ONE ENTIRE meal! This was progress! My munchkin let me cook for 3 separate 15 minute periods in which I somehow managed to put together this very hearty and soul warming soup.

Just a little back story…Hubby is on a diet, so upon leaving to run his errands he requested that I make something with kale. You must understand…hubby and I have been together for over 13 years… he has NEVER EVER requested kale. I have talked about it for years, clearly on deaf ears. Now that some of his body building buddies have been pushing it on him, suddenly it is the newest and coolest!

I was definitely not about to take my little munchkin out in this miserable, frigid, depressing weather. Soooooo… I found some ground up turkey sausage I had in the freezer and raided my pantry for the rest of the ingredients. Thanks to my hubby’s new obsession with kale, I had plenty of that in the fridge. And for my secret soup ingredient: the rind of my Parmesan cheese.

I learned this trick years ago when I ran out of Parmesan cheese and only had a bit of the rind left. I threw it into the soup and all the salty and nutty goodness melted into the soup, making every bite have that special something.

At the end of the day, hubby was still greeted with a warm kiss from me and a sloppy kiss from munchkin except she was sporting the sassy outfit. Such is my life…and I relish it every day!

Happy Eating all!

Start out with the ground turkey or pork sausage in a 6 quart pot or dutch oven. I feel that in a soup, you really cannot tell the difference between turkey and pork sausage, so I would rather save the calories.

Go ahead and brown it up in a little bit of olive oil while breaking it up with a wooden spoon. This should take about 10 minutes.

While meat is browning, dice your onions and carrots, roughly. Cut the carrot into match sticks and then into cubes. (Tutorial coming soon!)

Once the meat is all brown and crusty go ahead and remove from pot and reserve in another bowl. I kind of helped myself to it a bit too much and inadvertently ended up eating quite a bit of it. It’s OK, hubby is on a diet anyhow.

Add about 2 tablespoons of butter into the pot. And move it around. I used to be a “butter only on special occasions” type of gal, but more recently I have started to slip it into a few of my dishes here and there and it makes a world of a difference! You see those gorgeous crispy bits of meat on the bottom of the pot? This will give the soup loads and loads of flavor.

Now add in your carrots and onions and let them “sweat” it out in their buttery sauna. Sweating means low heat and covered. No caramelization should occur. But if it does, no biggie. (Sorry forgot to take a pic of this step.)

Next, cut up your potatoes roughly and mince some garlic. Use your microplaner for easy and quick garlic shredding! Watch those fingers, those things are sharp! (That onion is just there because it was pretty)

Measure out your red pepper flakes depending on how super spicy you want the soup.

Next, pour in about 8 cups of your homemade or store bought chicken stock and make sure you get all the nitty gritty caramelized bits with your wooden spoon on the bottom of the pan. If using store bought chicken stock, which let’s face it, most of us will, buy the low sodium type.

Don’t forget the secret ingredient. The Parmesan rind. And of course, a little piece of cheese for yourself. Quality control.

That’s it. Let the soup cook for about 20 minutes. In the mean time roughly chop up your kale and run cold water through it to get all the grit and dirt off of it. This by the way, is one of my favorite kitchen gadgets. It’s a strainer that stretches over my sink. I use it for washing fruit, draining pasta, beans. Oh! Speaking of beans, go ahead and drain one can of canelinni beans.

After 20 minutes, go ahead and add in your beans and kale. The kale will wilt nicely into the soup. Just give it a few minutes and a stir or two for some encouragement.

Check the seasoning of the soup. Notice I did not include salt or pepper in the steps. Your sausage will already be seasoned so make sure you check the soup as you go. Again, quality control.

That’s it. Serve the soup with some Parmesan cheese and a quick zest of lemon. I find the lemon just makes everything fresh and clean tasting.

And if you are not on a pesky diet, go ahead and serve it with some gorgeous crusty bread.

1Parmesan cheese rind if that's what you havefeel free to use Romano or Asiago

1pinch of red pepper flakesdepending how spicy you like it you can add more

Parmesan cheese for serving

Lemon zest for serving

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Start out with the ground turkey or pork sausage in a 6 quart pot or dutch oven.

Go ahead and brown it up in a little bit of olive oil while breaking it up with a wooden spoon. This should take about 10 minutes.

While meat is browning, dice your onions and carrots, roughly. Cut the carrot into match sticks and then into cubes. (Tutorial coming soon!)

Once the meat is all brown and crusty go ahead and remove from pot and reserve in another bowl.

Add about 2 tablespoons of butter into the pot. And move it around. I used to be a "butter only on special occasions" type of gal, but more recently I have started to slip it into a few of my dishes here and there and it makes a world of a difference! You see those gorgeous crispy bits of meat on the bottom of the pot? This will give the soup loads and loads of flavor.

Now add in your carrots and onions and let them "sweat" it out in their buttery sauna. Sweating means low heat and covered. No caramelization should occur. But if it does, no biggie.

Next, cut up your potatoes roughly and mince some garlic. Use your microplaner for easy and quick garlic shredding! Watch those fingers, those things are sharp!

Measure out your red pepper flakes depending on how super spicy you want the soup.

Toss the garlic, red pepper flakes and potatoes into the onion carrot mixture and let cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add in your reserved turkey sausage.

Next, pour in about 8 cups of your homemade or store bought chicken stock and make sure you get all the nitty gritty caramelized bits with your wooden spoon on the bottom of the pan. If using store bought chicken stock, which let's face it, most of us will, by the low sodium type.

Add in the Parmesan rind.

That's it. Let the soup cook for about 20 minutes.

In the mean time roughly chop up your kale and run cold water through it to get all the grit and dirt off of it.

Go ahead and drain the can of cannelini beans.

After 20 minutes, go ahead and add in your beans and kale. The kale will wilt nicely into the soup. Just give it a few minutes and a stir or two for some encouragement.

Check the seasoning of the soup. Your sausage will already be seasoned so make sure you check the soup as you go. .

Serve the soup with some Parmesan cheese and a quick zest of lemon. I find the lemon just makes everything fresh and clean tasting.

And if you are not on a pesky diet, go ahead and serve it with some gorgeous crusty bread.

Trackbacks

[…] rind. You may have seen this in some of my other soups like the Italian Wedding Soup and the Rustic Tuscan Sausage and Kale soup. There’s a reason for this, the flavor that it gives the soup is savory and a nutty […]

Hi I’m Mila…

Hi! I’m Mila, the Girl and the Kitchen. And I know good food! Having worked in many incredible restaurant kitchens as a chef, I know what it takes to make delicious food with simple ingredients and bright flavors! I believe that anyone can make great tasting food by knowing a few of the tips of the trade. Read along with me as I teach you how to prepare incredibly tasty and wholesome meals made with simple ingredients that are loaded with flavor in no time at all!